Clogged pipe

trigger11

trigger11

Member
Hello All,
Any suggestions on how to unclog a pipe?
I am in the middle of the process of upgrading my 55G tank to a 200G tank. I went with an external pump to my refugium. I have a submersible pump for the 55G and you can throw whatever you want at it and it will keep running.
Well, I started switching over the rock and macro algae from the 55 and a clump of the algae made it into the pump. That pretty much cut off the operation right there and the tank would have overflowed. I turned the pump off so it wouldnt burn up. At this point if i let it run it does move some water around but not very much at all. Any ideas? Other than giving the algae time to rot and free up the clog. Do they make a liquid plumber for fish tanks?
By the way, I have also installed several sponges and stuff so this wont happen again. Live and learn.
~Trigger
 
trigger11

trigger11

Member
Originally Posted by spanko
Can't you just take off the cover to get to the algae?
It is an Iwaki magnet pump. I dont really see any cover I could take off. Where the water comes into the pump there is an area there with about 8 screws that if I were take apart looks like the rest of the pump would come free of it.
 
gmann1139

gmann1139

Active Member
I'm just throwing ideas at the wall here, I don't have enough detail to rule any of these out:
1. Shop vac?
2. Snake?
3. Put another pump in the opposite direction and see if you can suck it down the tube?
4. If a snake won't fit, what about a broom pole? Algae should be fairly easy to break up or grab.
 
trigger11

trigger11

Member
Originally Posted by gmann1139
http:///forum/post/2450579
I'm just throwing ideas at the wall here, I don't have enough detail to rule any of these out:
1. Shop vac?
2. Snake?
3. Put another pump in the opposite direction and see if you can suck it down the tube?
4. If a snake won't fit, what about a broom pole? Algae should be fairly easy to break up or grab.
Good ideas. I got lucky though and let the pump sit all day. When I tried it later it was working correctly. Thank goodness.
 
andy51632

andy51632

Member
I was going to tell you to soak the pump in some RO/DI water for a day then try it again. The RO/DI water works pretty good as a cleaner and softens things pretty well also.
 
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